Calore
by FMAForge
Summary: The Calore region is one that is brand new to me, but one I must explore to its extent. The world I know will be challenged, and my whole life will be put to the test. Passions light. Fears will be faced. My world turns upside down.
1. The Start Of Something Big

**A/N:** So, I was just bored the other day and fancied starting a colossal-sounding fanfic to keep me company ;P. So. Here it is. I actually sat down and made a new region, which is pretty amazing considering my tiny attention span. But as ever, make sure to leave a review if you read it, it would help me out a lot knowing how to improve, and you'd enjoy the story more with the improvements. Win win! xD.

**WARNING: **At the moment, this is going to be rated as a T, but if I feel the language/ material in this story gets to violent, I will crank up the rating. I know it seems all innocent now, but believe me; it's not staying like this for long if my plans go through xP

The start of something big

The Calore region is a distant land, far away from Kanto and Johto- anywhere in fact. Just like every part of the Pokémon world, it is filled with wonders, mysteries, secrets and beauty. However, the region has recently undergone a huge change management, recently sold to an unknown buyer. Who are they? Who knows? But that's why I'm here. To face these challenges head-on. Every step will bring me closer to the end, but with the Pokémon I just received, I know I can make it.

"Mom, are we there yet?" Mom lifted her head out of her magazine, rolled her eyes and pointed out the long glass wall along the edge of the ship

"What?" I asked her, with a completely blank look.

"What do you see?" She asked me lightly- sarcastically if I didn't know better.

"Erm…." I stretched as much as I could out my seat to look out the window, and flopped back into my chair a few seconds later.

"The Sea."

"Yes, the sea. No sign of civilization. Or land. Water. So no, darling, we are not nearly there."

I shrugged further into my chair and said, "Geez, no need to get snarky with me- I was only asking a question."

She looked back up from her newspaper and sympathetically said, "Oh, I'm sorry darling. You know how much I hate these cruises. There's always some kid stinking of sick and apple juice in front of me."

When she said this you could feel the air tighten between us and the row in front, along with their more hushed chatter. Mom was obviously an idiot and spoke up, "Yes your child smells like sick, and don't you be talking about me either!"

"Oh my god Mom, Shut up- you're so rude I swear."

"What? You can't let people walk all over you, you know."

"Well that doesn't mean you have to be spiteful does it?" I let out a deep sigh and mumbled "I swear I'm the adult sometimes…"

We'd been out at sea for three days, and it was clearly starting to take its toll on some. Unfortunately, there were no runways in the region, because they had never before had contact with the other regions. But moving there all the way from Kanto was really hard work- we had to travel from Fuchsia city to Vermilion city uphill on the cycling road, to start. I've been up it plenty of times but not with a suitcase! Then we left the docks in Vermilion and, well there we were. Since then we've been packed together like pigs on a boat that never seems to be going anywhere.

Just as (I'm sure) the person in front of us was about to start a war with my mom, the speakers in the corners of the room shook as a woman announced "We are now in Luston town harbor, at the North West of the Calore region. Please, move in a single file down by the pier. You may collect your luggage at any time, and we ask you use the benches outside to wait for your method of transportation. We hope you had a nice time sailing with Vermilion pathways!"

As fast as I could, I undid my seatbelt and took a glance to my left. Mom and the passenger in front were still glaring at each other, so I leant over my mom, undid her seatbelt and said, "Well, it's been nice meeting you, but we have to, erm, go now bye!," as I briskly pulled her away and headed for the stairs.

"What did you do that for, Aria? I was about to give him a piece of my mind."

"My point exactly." We went around the perimeter of the boat to get to the storage rooms at the back. They were cramped and humid, but luckily our cases were right at the door so all we had to do was lean in and grab them.

Mom pulled a face as she grabbed hers. "What have they done to that room? Eugh, it stinks of sweat and shame. Ew, especially that one!"

Mom showed me the suitcase next to hers, which smelt like blood and rotten eggs. Just that second, the man mom was facing off with, barged her out the way and grabbed the suitcase. His black, piercing eyes were enough of a hint to tell us to get lost, so I grabbed mom along with our luggage, and dashed down the side of the boat and onto the pier.

"What's with you today, Aria? You've been in such a rush."

"It's mostly been due to the socially awkward situations you get yourself into, but I'm still _really_ excited for my Pokémon."

"But darling, you don't even know if professor Oak has set up a laboratory yet, let alone-", her words stopped in her breath as she looked up the side of a hill, to see a massive building surrounded by wind turbines, painted in metallic grey and dotted all over with circle shaped windows.

"Ok Mom, thanks, tell me if the house is nice, byeeeee!" I said as I shoved my bags into her arms and hurried up the hill.

I began thinking about what my first pokemon would be_ apparently, oak has all pokemon from all the four regions for beginners… Maybe a piplup…. Or a Torchic… Bulbasaur…. Or maybe even Chickorita! _

_I don't care. As long as it's mine. _

After ten minutes of (what seemed) endless running, I arrived at the entrance to the lab- a large oval door with a circular mirror at eye-height. I looked in the mirror, adjusted my long blond hair, and just stood there for a while. I thought about what I was going to say.

_My name is Aria, and I NEED a pokemon! _No… to needy.

_Hand it over gramps before I call the cops! _No… to… Plain creepy.

_You know I want it, just give it to me! _Geez, can you imagine if I said that? Ewwwww!

I Turned back around and took a look in the mirror, to see a man with a white quif grinning like a cheshire cat. "Bah!" I jumped backwards and stared at his face. He just laughed a big hearty laugh and said, "Don't be alarmed! It's me! Professor Oak!"

I stepped backwards a step and said, "Oh… Erm… right?" The door swung open, and Professor Oak emerged, wearing his white lab coat, and of course, his polished grin.

"Hello! And who might you be?" He looked down at me- I knew he meant it in a good way, but I couldn't help being a little intimidated- he is the authority on Pokémon, after all.

"Oh, yeah, my name's Aria Chase, and I'm here for my first pokemon."

He stood there for a few seconds, puzzled, then a wave of realization swept over him. "Oh yes! You're from Fuchsia city, right? Oh, I have something to tell-"

I leant forwards, clearly exited. "Yeah! That's me! Where's my pokemon? Is it cute? Ooooooh I can't wait!"

The professor awkwardly scratched the back of his head and said, "Well I need to tell you about that. The thing is all the starter pokemon are, erm, all gone… Everyone else was on the earlier boat…"

My expression quickly shifted from excitement, to anger. "Whaaaaat! Me and my mom have come all this way, and now you're telling me you don't even have a pokemon for me!"

The professor pressed his fingers against my lips and said, "Wait…. Your mom?" I nodded and then he… Did he blush? He adjusted his hair and said, "I may have something in the back for you that I've keeping for a, erm, special trainer."

My eyes lit up as he said that. "Really? For me?" He nodded and stood aside from the door. "Would you care to come with me?"

I nodded and proceeded into his lab. It was large and spacious, with a roof that lead up for miles. The metallic walls were all plastered with Posters of strange machines and blueprints, as well as Bookshelves crammed with pokemon encyclopedias. In every space there was a desk with papers splashed over them, and unpacked suitcases where there weren't.

"I apologize about the mess; I haven't really had much of a chance to 'move in' yet".

I replied "Don't worry- its fine. Me and mom are only just moving in too."

He let out a chuckle and opened up one of the cabinets dotted around the room. Inside were various files, and a single poke ball in a clear box in the middle. "Now, before you take this pokemon, I must warn you that-"

I snatched the poke ball out of the professor's hands "Oooooooh! The tension is too much to bear!" I exclaimed as I threw the poke ball to the ground. Out of the poke ball came a little brown pokemon, with a fox like tail, tipped with white and a big fluffy neck.

It looked quite off balance in the situation- it was nervously looking around the room. "Errrr…. Who's that pokemon Professor?" The professor flashed me a smile. "That Pokémon's Eevee- This one is only a baby and it's very cautious around people, so be gentle around it."

I got down at ground level to her, and looked her in the eye. She flinched a bit and backed away from me. "Don't be scared- I just want to be friends." I held out my hand to her but she still took a step back.

"It's fine- I'm new at being a trainer to. I'm just hoping we can get along." She took a step towards me and poked at my hand. Her fur was really soft- like silk. She took a couple more steps and came right up to my face. She licked my check and smiled at me.

Professor Oak got his cheeseburger grin back. "Hoho, I think she likes you!" I looked at him, my eyes twinkling. "Really? That's great!" I went to get up of the floor, and Eevee jumped up on my shoulder "Eeee!"

I gave Eevee a smile and Professor Oak said "Well, since Eevee's happy, I'm happy. You can have this Eevee, if you wish. Do you want to nickname her?"

"Really? I can have her? Yes!" I hugged professor Oak tightly around the waist. I then released and said, "I want to call her Rose." I looked at Eevee and she nodded "Eeee!"

"I think she likes that name. Fine, Rose it is. But before you go, hang on a second." Professor Oak quickly dashed to the other side of the room, and got out something red and rectangular out of one of the opened cardboard boxes. He raced back over to me and pushed it in my hands.

"This is a pokedex. This is what us scientists use to record data on pokemon. If you ever come across something you're unfamiliar with consult it- it can never hurt to be prepared."

I gave him a big smile. "Thank you professor! Well, I better get going now."

He waved to me as I proceeded to the door; Rose still perched on my shoulder. "Take care now! Look after Rose for me!"

I headed out the door, and looked into the clear blue sky.

_I will._


	2. Departure

Chapter 2- Departure 

"For fuck's sake, _why _won't you listen?"

"Hey! Don't use that sort of language! Besides, you only just got her. She's not going to know her name strait away, is she?"

"Well, I suppose not..." It was about six o'clock at night. Mom was scurrying around the kitchen, timing everything to perfection as usual. She was a master at it by this point- All the vegetables and meat would all come out at the same time.

Whereas I was crouched on the floor staring into Rose's eyes, trying my best to get her to remember her name. "Rose." I said firmly. She just sat there, tilted her head slightly and said- "Eeee?"

I looked away from her, stood up and walked over to the kitchen table. I pulled out a chair and fell into it, exhausted from the amount of time taken trying to teach this stupid thing her name.

"How long do I have to _do _this?" I moaned to my Mom, as she was clearly distracted by her cooking. "I'm supposed to be leaving tomorrow! How will I fend for myself if my pokemon doesn't even know its name, yet alone know what its attacks are in English?"

Mom slammed down the three pots of carrots, potatoes and broccoli, which made me jump out of my skin.

"Well, _you _wanted to be a trainer. This is what it's about- hard work and befriending your pokemon. It's not an easy road, but you'll be fine."

She grabbed the roast chicken out the oven, and gently placed it down on the table- obviously not trying to make as much of a scene as before.

Just then, Cuddles (Mom's Clefairy) came through the door and hoped up onto a chair that had already been pulled out for her. The star-shaped creature then coiled her tail around a spoon that was left by her plate, and then moved on to serve herself potatoes out of the bowl in the middle. Mom sat down and stroked her on her head.

"Good girl!" Mom gave her a light smile, and went to serve me some broccoli from the dish.

I leaned back and sighed. "See what I mean? Rose doesn't listen to me, and then you're sitting there with a Clefairy that's better house trained than me!"

Mom gave me a smug look, "Oh, I didn't mean to _upstage_ you or anything."

I gave her a look. "Oh ha, you're hilarious. Anyway, were you planning on letting Rose starve?"

She gave me a shrewd glance- like she knew that I didn't know what I was doing. "Well, she is _your _pokemon, isn't she? You really need to learn to look after her if you're going to hit the road tomorrow."

"Eeee..." I glanced down to the left, to see Rose with her head weighed down. Her eyes were glazed with un-shed tears. I picked her up and put her on the empty seat next to me.

"Don't worry!" I smiled at her, "I'll just get you something to eat- you'll feel better then!" Rose snuggled her head deep into my lap.

"Haha, it looks like she doesn't want you to move! Don't worry; I'll get her some pokemon food out the cupboards."

Mom ferreted through the cupboards a bit until she found a grey tin at the back. It was marked 'Pkmn Food' on a white label across the middle. She nimbly moved her fingers around the top of the can and pulled it open. She then got a metallic bowl from the cupboard and placed it on the floor bellow Rose. Rose then sprang of my lap and looked at my mom adoringly as she poured the brown pellets into the bowl. Instantly, she dived into the bowl and ate like nothing I'd ever seen.

I stared with my mouth agape as I watched the brown creature gorge herself on the food in front of her. "Bad luck darling," my mom said with a stern face, "looks like Professor Oak didn't give you a pokemon with any manors."

I rolled my eyes at her and tried to stop myself looking at Rose as much as possible. "So what do I have to pack for tomorrow?" I swiftly changed the subject. Mom gave me a warm look and replied, "Don't worry; I've packed you all your essentials, enough money to last you for a while and enough pokemon food to last a month."

I let out a gratified sigh, and then quickly glanced back up to Mom with a question. "What do I do for pokemon food when it all runs out?" I could feel her body tightening as I asked this, and she went to the other side of the table and sat down. "Now listen, Aria", she said with no emotion at all, "during this adventure you will learn how the world works. And your place with nature. This may mean you have to do things, such as _kill _pokemon for sustenance..."

I jumped up and out of my seat at the thought. "What? I can't do that! I can't end another creature's life to further my own!"

"You can and you will." Mom said firmly, her gaze making me stiffen in place. "Pokemon die every day, as do humans. Its part of life and you need to learn to accept that. You know a lot of the dinners I serve you use the meat of pokemon. Your journey will have no change in your diet to what it currently is. You'd just have to take on the roll of the farmer as well."

I was still shocked by the news. I guess I'd rarely thought about what my adventure would entail... And where my food came from. I tried not to think about it for so many years. But not understanding it now might get me killed in the wild.

"Ok..." I grabbed my seat and lowered myself into it, still shaking. "Ok then!" Mom said trying to bring up the gloomy atmosphere. "I'll show your bag!" She got up and went over to the oven, by which was a small yellow satchel. She plopped it on the table in front of me, and she could tell what I was thinking by the dazzled look on my face.

"Don't worry- it's all there." Mom gave me a warming smile and went on to explain. "It's called the 'magic satchel' trick. Every mother knows how to use it. Everything you need for your adventure is folded up into tiny little squares you see. Even you're pokemon food!"

I gasped in admiration as I looked inside. Everything was folded. Even the cutlery. "How the hell did you fold"- "Shhhhh!" She placed her two fingers across my lips and whispered in my ear, "It's a secret."

Well, there was no doubt in my mind. My mom was a wizard.

* * *

I had had a relatively nice sleep that night. I guess I'd just got myself so exited, I just tired myself out. The sun was hanging lazily in the sky, and its scarlet shadows were dancing along my room, and slashing over my eye. It was a new day. The best day. Nothing was going to stand in my way. Well, except for deciding what to wear.

Mom _had _laid some stuff out for me on the end of my bed. A tinny skirt and an even smaller crop top. She was the one pleading to me yesterday about how first impressions were important. I didn't really fancy being asked for sex, so I just looked at her clothes of choice in disgust and threw it to the other side of the room.

Honestly, if she dressed like that when she was fourteen no wonder her boyfriend didn't hang around when she was pregnant. Instead, I delved into my cupboard to see what I could find. I put on some worn-out skin tight jeans, a blue T-Shirt and my black Jacket opened over it. I sat in front of my mirror and Ran a brush through my long blonde hair so it looked half-decent.

Its funny- loads of people say I look like my auntie Karen, but I'd never seen the resemblance until then. My eyes were the same Silver colour as hers, and my hair was similar- even though mine was blonde and not grey. Looking in the mirror, I could only dream to be a skilled a trainer as her one day. I also wanted to do everything I could to live life to the full, just like her. I wanted to do everything from the battle frontier to pokemon contests. And maybe become a member of the elite four too...

I quickly snapped myself out of my trance. It was high time I did something about my dreams, and not just sit there gawking for a change. Rose was sleeping at the bottom of my bed, and I decided that it was going to listens to me. I'd decided.

"Rose." I said in a stern unshaken voice. The pokemon arose from its slumber, winced and just stared at me for a few seconds. Out of nowhere, Rose sprang from her bed and jumped onto my lap. "Eeee!" She chimed in delight as she buried her face deep in my lap.

"_Finally!_" I couldn't help saying as I cuddled the Eevee. Maybe all that training did pay off yesterday. Either that, or I'd just shown Rose who the boss was. Regardless, I needed to get going. I placed Rose on my left shoulder and swung my bag over the right one before running out of the door. I arrived at the bottom of the stairs to be greeted by mom.

"Hey! Why aren't you wearing the clothes I laid out for you?" I sighed and simply said, "I want to look like a trainer. Not a whore."

She glared at me for a moment and said, "Tch! Fine then. I know when my advice isn't wanted."

She turned around and started to walk back into the house. I ran up to her and apologized. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings Mom. Really, I didn't mean to."

"She looked back up to me and said, "It's ok! Don't worry. The last thing I want is you leaving on your journey with a sour note from your mom. But please just do one thing for me."

From her pocket, mom grabbed a pink beret that was lined with a gold strip on the bottom. It also adorned a purple Poke ball symbol on the front of it. She placed it on my head and stood back before saying. "Now your look is complete!"

She walked up closely to me and pulled me into a huge hug. "That was the hat I wore when I set out on my Journey", she whispered in my ear, "Don't you dare loose it- it's full of great memories that I want you to cherish forever." We parted the hug, and I couldn't help but wipe a tear from my eye.

"Don't get soppy now!" I exclaimed. "You might miss me otherwise!"

"Darling, I wouldn't dream about it." She escorted me back over to the door and said her farewells. "Keep safe!" She shouted over to me. "Take care of Rose!" I giggled and waved back to her, my hair obscuring my face in the breeze. "Don't worry I will!" Rose stood up on my shoulder and shouted "Eeee!" as a good bye.

I proceeded down the drive and through the town; it was all full of people leaving home to go on their journeys. I was one of them. Fear knotted in my stomach for the first time in ages. Was I really ready for this? I looked at Rose and saw she was scared to- I'd read that pokemon pick up on their trainer's feelings, and respond accordingly.

"Don't worry." Is all I simply said to her. I needed to be strong for the both of us. After that she relaxed again, and let out a low growl of contentment. I giggled and started to walk through the town, my heart racing.

Eventually, we got past all the bustling markets, and old women complaining about the ferry prices. Then, we were at the edge of the town, facing out towards route 231. It was refreshing really- a whole new horizon just waiting for me.

_And I'm ready for it. _


	3. Circumstances

**A/N**: Hey guys, it's me and I thought I might as well put a disclaimer in here. I've just started to get it going in this chapter, really, and since this chapter was hard to write due to its battle scenes, I really don't want fanfiction to take it down. So here it is:

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own pokemon in any way. They belong to the respective companies used to generate the franchise, and I am not a part of them. This is a fan-made story, purely for the entertainment of the viewers of fan fiction. net

* * *

Circumstances 

The First leg of my journey was quite easy- I'd even say I really enjoyed walking down route 231 with Rose.

The whole route was dotted in crystal clear ponds, covered in verdant grass and shadowed by thick trees. It was nice to see the small specs of light shooting through the branches, which splashed on the floor like wet paint.

For then I was just enjoying the travelling element of my journey, and hadn't really been all too keen on the thought of battling. However, I knew I'd eventually learn how to defend myself. So I took Rose of my shoulder and placed her on the floor.

She just stared at me blankly.

As always.

Why did I have to have the slow pokemon? I sighed and tried talking to her. "Now Rose, you're going to have to learn how to battle soon so-" I scratched my head and glanced around- "try hitting that rock?"

I pointed towards a sturdy rock about 50 yards to the right of us. It looked quite brittle though- with enough force she might be able to break it.

But she _obviously _had other ideas, and decided it would be good instead to go for a dip. She dived into the nearest pond, and made a tiny splash that soaked the tips of my toes. I cringed as I watched her swim around- It looked quite clean, but the bottoms of these sorts of ponds usually have thick layers of mud.

"Rose, get out of the pond!" I shouted over to her, my voice echoing through the dense habitat. Just then, I remembered something mom had told me while we were on the boat.

_I was taking no notice of what she was saying, as per usual, and was just staring out the window with glazed eyes, unaware of nearly all that was going on around me. _

"_Now, to be a great pokemon trainer-" she said proudly, like she knew everything; like she always did –"you need to know your enemy!" She prominently stomped her foot on the floor, and affixed her gaze onto my wandering one._

"_Huh?" I said shaking my head, snapping myself back into reality, "oh, yeah..." I slid out before resting my right arm onto my chair and sliding my face back into it. _

"_Wild pokemon can live anywhere!" She boldly stated as she turned her gaze off mine and stretched out her arms. "Whether it be in ponds, lakes, deserts or-"_

Crap.

"Rose! Get. Out. Now!" I shouted to her at the top of my voice. However, she was thrashing about in the water, causing it to splash and hiss, meaning that she couldn't hear me at all!

I cursed under my breath. I remember stories my Mom told me of how she caught a Kingler- I remember her taking great pleasure in telling me that it tore apart a weedle that looked at it with a worried glance. She put emphasis on how it's claws sliced through it like jelly, and how she sat there only able to watch with her mouth agape as oozing fluids poured out of the creature's neck and slopped onto the floor like rotting sick. Ponds are the ideal settlements for Kingler. And I sure as hell didn't want my pokemon to end up like that.

I had no choice. It was time for me to go in. I rolled up my jean legs up to my knees and took of my black pumps. I edged over to the water's muddy edge and gently prodded my foot into the water itself. This just proved what I'd always thought. That things always seemed more appealing from a distance. The water was, in reality, thick and gloopy like oil. All I could do was sit down on the muddy bank and see how far my leg would go down.

One inch.

Five inches.

10 inches.

The water had completely immersed my thigh by the time it touched the grotty floor. I cringed as I had to slide my other leg into it as well- it stank like rotting meat. No doubt that many a water pokemon had feasted amongst themselves over the rotting carcases of fellow fish.

I then decided to take off both my bag and my jacket. My bag had my pokedex and- pretty much- everything else inside of it, while as my jacket was designer and I didn't want my thousand poké to go to waste. Hey, I'm all for stinking ponds, but who said I still wasn't up for the finer things in life?

I slung them both onto the muddy side of the pond, which I could tell I was going to regret after hearing them splash in the brown gunk. I then turned my attention to Rose, who was still having a lovely time of splashing about the water as much as possible.

I didn't really care about the fact that she wanted to have some fun. It was more the mental note I'd made to myself on how I was going to scrub the layers of slime off her fur.

At the time, I just simply rolled my eyes and started to make my way towards her. I had to keep on twisting my body left to right in order to get anywhere.

After just thirty seconds of progress, the water started to get deeper, climbing its way further up my body. I grumbled to myself as I saw my T-shirt starting to be immersed. "Great... Now I have to clean _that _too..."

After another minute, the water seemed to stop creeping up me, stopping at my neck. It made me comfortable in the fact that I wasn't going to drown from it any time soon. However, this did mean I had to start to swim.

I hated swimming.

So much.

And the fact that this water was as thick as melted chocolate really didn't help my cause. Despite this, I managed to half-swim half-drown my way over to where my excitable Eevee was splashing about in the water. I rolled my eyes and grabbed by the ear. Instantly she stopped, and gave me her best panda-eyes, almost like she was saying, '_I want to play!' _

I gave her a stern look and flicked my eyes away from her gaze before saying , "it's your own fault- if you just listened to me, I might have let you play by the water's edge. But of course, you had to go thrashing out into it like you'd never seen water before!"

I heard her mumble a slight growl at that. Even though she didn't understand most of what I was saying, it was obvious from my tone of voice that I wasn't pleased. I turned back to her and let my gaze soften, "Oh, it doesn't matter anyway." I let go of her ear and grabbed her by her main body, before settling her out in front of me.

"Come on; let's just get you out of here." As I said this I couldn't help cringing a little- her fur had got all matted from being in the water for so long. I pushed my looks of distaste aside as I tried not to think about how much soap I'd need to clean her.

However, if she noticed any of the discreet looks I gave her, they were quickly dismissed, as all she did was smile sheepishly at me and emit a low growl. Pah, I'd only known her for a day and she was already purring like a cat in front of me!

I placed Rose back on my shoulder and started to make my way back to the edge of the water. It was harder than last time because I had her on my shoulder, but it didn't really take much more effort because of it- all it really did was slow me down a few minutes.

When we got to the side, I popped Rose on the water's edge and pushed down on it myself in an attempt to get out, having to repeatedly try it so that my hands wouldn't slip. The little pokemon found it hilarious when I was pushing so much force down on the side, that when I slipped I managed to dunk my head into the gunk.

I sighed when I eventually managed to beach myself on the side of the lake, Rose sniffing at my face. The incidents that day really made me realise how naive she was about the world, and how much I did need to teach her. But that still meant I had to learn a lot too.

I sat myself upright and looked out towards the lake again. Getting Rose out of there was what I believed to be the first step towards proving my dedication as a trainer. And for some reason, I couldn't help laugh as Rose poked her head around the edge of the water.

"Hey." I said to her, giving a stern glance. "I already need to wash you- you don't need another coat of it!"

I barely had enough time to look at her reaction though, as ten seconds later the water erupted in front of us. Instantly, I grabbed Rose and scampered backwards away from it in fright. It took me a few more seconds to register what had happened- a wild pokemon had jumped out the water.

It stood there- leering at us. It had two pincers, both bright orange, though the left was significantly bigger than the right. They were attached to its body by white bone-like arms, joining just behind the bottom half of its mouth, which was white and jagged. It had four other thin legs leading off its body, which was about as big as its largest claw; complete with six spikes framing the top of it. It's eyes were two deathly-white semi-circles, that had a single small black pupil inside of them, which made me even more terrified.

It was twice as big as me, with pincers that looked like they could easily tear me in two- I had every right to want to scream. However, Rose reacted so quickly that I didn't have time to.

Without a moment's hesitation, she had launched herself directly at the Kingler's legs! I stood shocked as it wobbled back and forth, but eventually stumbled onto its back due to the weight of its claw.

In this time, Rose had squared up to the giant crab and was staring at it- like she was really enjoying herself. In a way it was quite sick, the satisfaction she was getting out of causing harm to another pokemon, but I just thought she was amazing.

Then, she used her front legs to propel herself into the air, at the same time angling herself so that the bulk of her tail was in line with the Kingler's legs from above. She smashed down into them with a bone shattering hit, which made me cringe and turn away from it.

The poor thing- it might have attacked us first, but it didn't mean Rose had to snap its legs off!

I saw one the Kingler's bones fly past my vision, and I turned to face the fight once again, wincing as I heard the pokemon scream out in distress. Rose, however, simply bounced backwards and landed square onto it again. She licked her lips at the sight of the struggling Kingler, making me feel even sicker than I already did. I'd need to teach her that it's not nice to inflict such grotesque injuries.

Looking back now, I wish I let her keep that sense of satisfaction.

In one last swoop, Rose charged with her head down with full force at the disfigured pokemon, hitting it square in the back. It cried out and hurtled back out towards the lake like a bowling ball, before falling back into the middle of it. I put my hand over my mouth as I saw its dead body resurface a few seconds later.

Rose however, hopped back over to me, and rested at the feet of my shaking body. She smiled at me, and looked expectantly like she was asking _'did I do good?' _

I just stared at her, open mouthed. Well, what would you say?

* * *

A few days after the Kingler event, I'd noticed a substantial personality change in Rose. We'd only seen a couple of wild pokemon beforehand, though they usually just kept their distance, and we'd leave them alone.

Now it's an entirely different prospect.

Now even if wild pokemon's _shadow _was to flash in front of us for more than three seconds, she'd dart at it like a hungry Gyarados in a Tauros meat factory!

I sighed and looked over towards her terrorising the local wildlife, with a smug grin on her face the whole time. I knew that I'd eventually have to start training her sooner or later, but I'd been putting it off. Why? Effort. I didn't like anything that took effort- so going on a pokemon journey couldn't have been the smartest decision I had ever made.

Then it struck me.

It couldn't really be _that _hard to tame Rose if I thought about it in more detail. Besides from me, she liked attacking everything that moved. So I saw a simple solution- why not catch another pokemon? If I could teach Rose not to attack it, it might just calm her down slightly.

Before I did anything though, I flipped open the Pokedex and consulted it. I scanned through the pokemon data for route 231, and took a look at what was available. I had to admit- It didn't have much talent going for it.

The main species of pokemon that lived here were Rattata- that wasn't a good sign to begin with, as they are notoriously known for being one of the weakest and most common pokemon in Kanto. Besides from that, it had possibly every other three-stage-evolution bug type pokemon. They are pretty good to begin with, as they reach their most powerful forms quickly, however they would eventually fall behind pokemon in terms of strength later on. Huh, it looks like I wasn't _completely _clueless at the start of my journey.

Apparently, the Kingler I found wasn't actually native to this route, but it has been known to find home in the lakes underneath the train route connecting Rijon city to Chindon city. Rijon city would be our first stop, so the poor pokemon had probably got over there by accident.

Well, I knew for sure it wouldn't be going home anytime soon.

I was about to close my pokedex, but then realised that I could see if it had any techniques on how to train pokemon. I typed it in the search bar, and sure enough there were hundreds of results, ranging from how to teach your pokemon new battle techniques, too simply teaching them how to understand English.

I clicked on the link to the latter, and browsed through the information. If I were to make any sort of progress with Rose- or any sort of pokemon in fact- I needed to communicate with them. The pokedex told me that I needed to do one of three things: Gently ease her into paying attention, sitting down with her for hours to get her to listen, or to praise her when she does something good or bad- along with introducing words in the punishments and praises.

I decided to go with the last one- judging by how she was flitting around now, I wouldn't be able to sit her down and tell her what to do. And doing things throughout the course of my travels instead of compromising myself completely seemed like a much easier path to travel.

As we were heading ever-closer to Rijon city, I took it upon myself to look at Rose's species. "Apparently, Eevee can evolve into one of seven pokemon..." I couldn't help muttering out loud as I kept a concentrated gaze on the pokedex. "'Eevee can also learn the shadow ball technique, if given enough vigilant training. They also seem to evolve depending on their personalities'..." I quoted as I placed the pokedex back in my bag, and slung it over my shoulder.

At this action, Rose came running back towards me with a dead Starly in her mouth, lined around the edge with blood. I snatched it out of her mouth and went to say something but stopped myself. I had to be careful what I said here. I obviously didn't want her killing _everything _she sees, but I needed to let her know that killing was ok only when I said so.

"That's bad! Only do something when I say so!" Was what I decided to scold her with. I think I got my point across as she whimpered and curled up by her feet. I'd barely looked at the Starly at all before throwing it into the thick undergrowth by the trees Rose had been 'playing' in. I wanted to have the stomach to eat something later, after all. I bent down and picked her up off the floor, startling her as I did. I perched her up on my shoulder and said to her, "Right then, we need to make some progress- Rijon city is only half an hour away, and I want to get there before dinner!"

I gave Rose a smile, and pretending to forget about the dead Starly nestling in the bushes seemed to make her all the happier. We headed off towards our first city, eagerly awaiting what would befall us there.

I had no idea that the reality in my head was all too sweet.

* * *

It was about seven O'clock when I and Rose approached Rijon City. To be honest though, we could see the town from a mile off- all the buildings were massive! It looked amazing from the hill we were standing on- the skyscrapers were penetrating the blackness of the night sky, thick clouds covering up all the stars. Through every building there was a cluster of lights in every colour, painting the skyline the colour of a rainbow.

I literally just stared at it- it was so awe inspiring that I didn't want to tear my eyes away. The blinding lights somehow meant something to me. It was like I was leaving my old life behind and starting a fresh...

I sighed and started walking down the narrow slope towards the city. The potent smell of smoke in the air grew stronger as I grew closer to the city, and honestly, it was putting me off going any further. Well, to make Rijon city the trade capital that it is, something must have been lost in return. And apparently, this was pollution awareness.

Anyway, I was a few steps from the city's border control, when I felt a hand lightly touch me on my shoulder.

I turned around to face a boy slightly taller than me. He wore a light blue shirt with thin black stripes as his first layer, showing only the sleeves. Over the top of the blue shirt, his T-shirt sleeves were showing, which had thick white and green stripes. He then wore a sleeveless jacket, which was red with two stripes of yellow running parallel next to the zip, which spiked out as a collar by his neck. He wore a light turquoise scarf wrapped around his neck and slung over his left shoulder that was lined with a dark green. He had a thick brown band around his waist, and wore a pair of navy blue shorts that went down to his knees. He had bright red fingerless gloves that matched the colour of the pokedex in his right hand, and the edges of his ankle high boots. The boots were mainly light purple, which had a white poke-ball pattern on the side.

His hair was jet-black and spiky, with his fringe settling in-between his dark blue eyes. He also had a light blue bag that hung from his right shoulder and settled on the outside of his left leg.

"Is that an Eevee?" The boy pulled out his pokedex and started taking pictures of Rose. She quite happily basked in the new-found popularity she seemed to have obtained. "Um..." I leaded on, hoping to at least get a name from him.

He glanced back up at me and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, right", he slipped his pokedex back into his bag and held out his hand to me; "I'm Teal- a pokemon trainer."

I accepted his gesture and replied, "I'm Aria- a trainer too, actually." He let go of my hand and adjusted his scarf, as it was floating high in the breeze.

"I'm sorry for being all in your face about your Eevee- you see, they're really rare in this region and I haven't seen one yet."

I waved my hand, dismissing the conversation. I was curious about him, though. "Err, what pokemon are you raising then?"

He flashed me a smile and pointed down to his feet. I could see the shadow of something flaying out behind his legs. "I'm not surprised you didn't see him- he's always been a bit shy." He turned around and knelt down, picking something up in the process.

When he turned back to face me, he was clutching a pokemon in his arms. It was a circular in shape and covered in thick purple, scraggy hair. It had two big, bright red filtered eyes, along with little oval-shaped feet and two long white antenna sticking out of it's head.

"This is Danny, my Venonat. Say hi Danny." The furry creature quickly turned around and snuggled back into Teal's chest. He sighed and held the creature closer to him. "Don't be scared", he whispered in Danny's ear, "Aria won't hurt you, you're safe."

Danny started to turn around slowly at this, nervously eying me. "It's ok," I bent down to his level and held out my hand, "I won't hurt you, I promise." Then I slowly went to gently stroke him on his head. At first he was alarmed, squirming in Teals arms, but after a few seconds he started to relax- growling in content.

"Haha, I think he likes you. Danny never really warms to anyone but me most the time. He's, err..." I stood back up straight and looked at Teal. He was trying to find the right words. "...Unsure of himself, I think." He said finally, after hanging me in unneeded suspense.

Just then, Rose jumped off my shoulder, along with Danny jumping out of Teal's arms, and began chasing each other around our legs. We both laughed at how well they were getting along. A few seconds afterwards, Teal asked me "so, what brings you to Rijon city?"

I steered my gaze over to his and replied, "Oh, I'm travelling. I really wanted to learn more about pokemon, and Rijon city was the first city from Luston town- where we docked."

"Ah, I see...So what's the place you're originally from, then?" I picked up Rose to stop her from jumping on Danny, and placed her back on my shoulder. "Fuchsia city, in the Kanto region- you heard of it?"

He shook his head. "No can't say I have, actually. But if you did come from a different region, why didn't you travel around there instead?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, I like the idea that this region hadn't been explored by many people yet- aside from the locals, obviously-"I adjusted my beret "- besides, what would be the fun in going into a region when I know exactly what's around the corner? Things are always more fun spontaneous, and you don't get more than a brand new place! But while we're on the subject of travailing..."

Teal then picked up Danny, who was excitedly jumping around my feet. "I guess you want to know about me then? Well, I live here- in Rijon city. I really want to be a good trainer one day, but I think it's still just a dream for me."

I looked puzzled at his reasoning. "Why would it still a dream for you? You have a pokemon, right? That means you can aim your aspirations as high as you want."

He sighed and shook his head. "Well, er...-" he beckoned me to move closer to him, and he whispered in it "- It's Danny, you see. He was getting bullied by some Venomoth not long ago, so I decided to step in. I caught him so that he'd never have to listen to their mean words again." Danny's eyes were flitting madly at the many buildings surrounding us. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk much about it to begin with, so I decided to change the conversation.

"So, are you gonna show me around then?" He blinked at me for a second, slightly confused. "I mean the city", I added, "It would be nice to know where to start, because I honestly have no idea."

In the time we had our conversation, the queue had completely diminished. As we both fiddled with our bags and got out our money he said, "Sure, why not? I'm planning on leaving home soon, and I'd like to get another look at the city before I go."

We both thanked the man in the booth and shoved our passes into our bags. "Make sure you don't lose that." Teal signalled to me as I was struggling to find any spare space amongst the many folded cubes.

"If you lose that, you won't be able to pass in and out of the city, and the police have reason to suspect you as a criminal."

I did a double-take from Teal back to my bag. "Really? Why such tight security?" I slung my bag back over my shoulder, and he signalled me to follow him. I did so, and we entered onto a busy main-street full of men and women dressed in suits, shouting down their phones. The buildings seemed to loom taller than before, and the lights from the top windows were getting obscured by the clouds.

"Well", Teal said having to raise his voice other the busy street, "For some reason, crime has been flourishing in the city lately and the police are pretty desperate to find the culprit- or culprits."

Teal grabbed onto my arm and started dragging me through the dense crowds, making me raise my voice this time. "So they think the crimes are all connected then? Like an organisation?"

Teal pulled me out of the crowds and into one of the side alleys, where we both slumped against the walls trying to get our breath back. I'd been brought up in Fuchsia city, but the streets never got THAT crowded. The busiest it would get was when a whiny kid cried about not having enough time in pal park.

I was going to ask Teal if he knew anymore about the crime waves, but I noticed something completely different when I was glancing down the alley

At the end there was a large building- it was shaped like the top of a tower, was multicoloured and laden in bright flashing lights. The lights poured out of the oval-shaped window on the left side of it, and into the dense shadows that lined the edge of the alley. Across the front the words "GAME CORNER" were splashed over it.

"Whoa..." I stared with my mouth agape at the transfixing building. It swallowed my vision completely, and made me deaf to Teal's suggestion of staying away because of how dangerous gambling is- or something like that.

Instead I walked through the large fake-jewel incrusted door, pushing it open without even realising that Teal had left me. Inside there were rows and rows of orange game machines, nearly all of them occupied by an eager-looking middle-aged man, their eyes locked onto the flashing screens like hungry animals lusting for food. I was one of them- however, my eyes looked past the thick mass amount of occupants of the building, and was trailing to a beautiful silk scarf, hung on the mannequin of a Skitty.

As I gazed, locked onto it, I had about a million different visions of what Rose would look like wearing it. The thoughts bubbled in my head, and then I knew. _I need that scarf_.

I then slowly reached out to grab it off the mannequin, only to have my hand pushed out of the way by an elderly man in a brown, long coat. He turned my face slowly towards me, to see his bright red with his lip turned upwards.

"What do you think you're doing!" he bawled at me, jabbing me in the nose with his finger. "If you want a silk scarf that bad, you're just going to have to earn money like everyone else, aren't you!"

I took a couple of steps backwards from the man, shaking my hands and smiling awkwardly as I did so. Well, there was one thing for it. Time to take on the game machines.

I seated myself on the purple leather seat of one of the tall stools, and found myself staring at the orange machine. It actually looked quite a lot like a vending machine on the outside- however on the inside was a three-piece slot machine. I licked my lips, cracked my fingers and leaned forwards.

I jammed a 10 poke coin into the machine as instructed, and pulled on a red lever sticking out of the machine's side. The three slots on the machine span for a few seconds, and landed on a 7, a Psyduck, and an R.

I screwed up my face and tried it again. Same result. Then again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

This kept going for what seemed like hours, making my hands sore from pulling on the lever so much. As part of the cycle, I went to grab another ten poke piece out of my bag. I couldn't feel it, so I fiddled around looking for one, thinking nothing of it.

After a few seconds, I picked up my bag and starred into it.

_Oh crap_, I thought. _I've spent all my money. _

I instantly panicked, darting out of the arcade, tears streaming down my face. I tripped over in the alley, greeted by the harsh wet ground. I sobbed into the ground, and crawled over to the shaded walls where I propped myself up and looked to the rain.

As I watched it cascade down to the ground, I thought about what I could do. I couldn't go back to my Mom- she'd never let me travel again. And I hadn't got Teal's address, so he was practically useless in the big city.

I didn't see many other options- I could only hope that some local sees me and is kind enough to lend me some money. I'd barely been on the road and I'd blew it.

I already messed up.

I buried my head deeper into my knees, but looked back up when I saw a hand in a black glove call to me. I couldn't see anything of the person's face, besides from a smirk slashed by the light of the moon. I saw it as a helping hand.

So I reached

And I grabbed it.

It was the worst decision of my life.


End file.
